Are you delighting in the Lord? (And what does that mean?!)

I was recently asked if I delight in the Lord. That simple yet loaded question allowed me to look at my relationship with God in a new light. I LOVE the Lord, but do I delight in Him? In that moment, my honest answer was no. For me, maybe for you, too, it’s easy to get caught up in the everyday chaos of life, and forget that delight can and does exist within those ordinary moments. So, I’ve been making a conscious effort ever since I was asked that question to learn what it means to delight in the Lord, and how to recognize when moments of delight are near. What I’ve found is that I don’t have to change my entire life to encounter delight. I don’t have to find more hours in the day, have a massive mindset overhaul, or take a trip around the world to see more of God’s beauty and love. And let’s be honest, I don’t really have the capacity to do any of these things in my stage of life, and you probably don’t either. Thankfully, God made it easier than that; We can delight in the Lord even when we are going about our normal life. Here’s a list of three small shifts I’ve made in order to delight in the Lord while going about my normal life.

Looking for God instead of myself when I read my bible

Typically when I read my bible, I’m looking for ways that I can practically apply what I’m reading to my life. This isn’t a bad thing at all. God wants us to apply His Word to our lives. That’s a big reason why the bible exists! However, when I was only looking for ways I could improve my life and live more like Christ, I was missing a HUGE point. I was missing out on God’s character, his love, and His grace. I wasn’t seeing that God, while yes, wants to refine me, also wants me to know how much He loves me. When I shifted my focus from “me” to “God”, I saw more of God’s beauty on display than ever before. No longer was my bible time basically a time for self improvement, it was a time to delight in who God tells us He is. I found that the way I read the Bible in the past was actually exhausting me, rather than filling me up. Now, when I simply look for God within the pages, I’m filled to the brim with His love! Seeing how much He loves and cares for His people allows me to delight in Him like never before! Tara-Lee Cobble has much to say about looking for God in the Bible in many of her resources. If you want a guide that can teach you practical ways to find God in scripture, look her up! She’ll be a massive help!

Paying attention to the small things instead of ignoring them

This is easier said than done, but when I make a conscious effort to pay attention to the small things that make up my day rather than ignore them, I am able to delight in God more often. Instead of putting “delight in the Lord” in a box and saving it for prayer time or time in my bible, delighting in the Lord happens all day long! Paying attention to things like the smell of trees budding in the spring, sunshine pouring through my window, the fact that I have a car to transport me from place to place, meals shared with the family, falling asleep next to my husband at night; the list of small things that fill my day goes on and on and on. When I take the time to recognize these moments, I am able to see how beautiful this life that God created for us to enjoy really is! I can delight in how God made me, where He’s placed me, the blessings He’s given me, and the people He’s surrounded me with. Delighting in the Lord means delighting in all the small moments that I often let pass by unnoticed.

Changing my prospective from “this isn’t what I want to be doing” to “this is where God has me”

This last point goes along with my second point, because obviously every small moment that makes up my day is not something I necessarily delight in. Things like doing dishes or laundry, changing a diaper of a toddler who doesn’t want to sit still for more than .5 seconds, or keeping up with said toddler when the day is almost over and I’m exhausted. This list also goes on and on and on. When I get sucked into the thought of “this is not what I want to be doing”, delighting in the Lord pretty much goes right out the window. However, when I change my thought process to “this is where God has me”, it changes everything. Even if it’s something that I really don’t want to be doing, I can recognize that this is the work that God has placed in front of me. I can delight in this work because it’s from God. Verses like Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as if working for the Lord rather than for people” and James 1:2, “consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance” tell us that even when the work is hard, delighting in the Lord IS possible, and it can also make the work more bearable. And isn’t that just how God operates?! When we give our lives and responsibilities and annoying daily tasks to Him, He brings us delight! That is just SO God’s character; To give us joy when we glorify Him and honor him with even our most unwanted tasks. Ugh He is just SO GOOD and so worth delighting in!!!!

To wrap this up, I want to ask you the same question I was asked not long ago – Do you delight in the Lord? Do you know what delighting in the Lord would look like in your own life? I encourage you to take some time to do an honest evaluation of your delight. Then, lean in to finding God in scripture as you read your bible, recognize the small moments in your day, and choose to think, “this is where God has me” while doing those things you just don’t love. Delighting in the Lord really can be simple, you don’t have to change your entire life to do it, and it will be an enormous gift from God.

I pray that this encourages you, blesses you, and brings you closer to God’s love! I love you and I’m praying that you find some genuine joy today!

– Jenn